Language Shift in Tegalgubug Village

Tegalgubug is one of the villages located in western Cirebon. Tegalgubug people usually use Cirebon Javanese in their daily lives, which has its own characteristics. These characteristics can be seen from the vocabulary that is different from other villages and a very striking accent. However, along with the times and modernization, the language used by the Tegalgubug community has shifted and changed in each generation. The shift or change is clearly visible especially from the older generation (generation X), the adult generation (Millennial generation) and the young generation (generation Z). So that the language used by the Tegalgubug community is characterized by gradually fading.

Generation X in Tegalgubug

In Tegalgubug nowdays, the language used by the older generation or Gen X still has its own strong characteristics compared to the younger generation today. Generation X still uses distinctive vocabulary and thick accents. Generation X itself is the generation born between 1965 and 1980. Language analysis conducted on generation X on a respondent aged 1976 who is now around 49 years old and is a local Tegalgubug resident who has never traveled long or settled in another city.

Generation Millenial and Z In Tegalgubug

The second respondent was the millennial generation, who were born between 1981 and 1996. Then this respondent is a local resident of Tegalgubug and has never traveled or settled in another city. This respondent is 30 years old this year. Furthermore, the third respondent is generation Z. generation Z is a generation born from 1997 to 2012. This generation Z respondent is 25 years old this year and has never traveled or settled in another city.

The results of my observations are as follows:

Phonology Shift

The data showed phonological changes in the pronunciation of the words “star”, ‘pegang’ and “short” among the three generations. Gen X respondents tend to show strong influence from regional dialects, such as the change of /b/ to /l/ in “bintang” to “lintang”, /p/ to /j/ and vowel addition in “pegang” to “jagani”, and /p/ to /c/ in ‘pendek’ to “cendek”. Meanwhile, Gen Millennial and Gen Z respondents mostly maintain the standardized forms of “star” and “short”, although they both pronounce ‘pegang’ as “jegeni” which also reflects the influence of dialect. This difference shows that generational factors and socio-cultural backgrounds influence pronunciation variations in language.

Morphological Shift

The figure shows an example of intergenerational morphological changes in everyday language use. Words such as wash, split, and bite change form when used by Gen X, Millennials, and Gen Z. For example, wash becomes ngumbah in Gen X and Millennials, and then changes to kumbah in Gen Z. For example, wash becomes ngumbah in Gen X and Millennials, then changes to kumbah in Gen Z. The word split changes to nyigar (Gen X and Millennials) and is simplified to sigar by Gen Z. Meanwhile, bite becomes cokot (Gen X), and undergoes an affixation process to become nyokot in Millennials and Gen Z. These changes reflect morphological processes such as affixation (the addition of prefixes such as “ng-”, “ny-”), phonological puns, and simplification of word forms influenced by regional languages (especially Javanese) as well as language innovation between generations.

Lexical Shift

Lexical changes are changes in vocabulary usage that can occur between generations, as seen in the table comparing the words “seed”, ‘feather’ and “dirty” among Gen Xers, Millennials and Gen Zers. Each generation has different word variations for the same meaning, for example Gen X uses “lakar” for ‘seed’, while Gen Z calls it “seedling”. This reflects the differences in word choice that are influenced by regional languages, the times, and the distinctive language habits of each generation.

Writen by Gita Amanda Nur Janah (English Literature 6B)